Collage of images from the 2023 Pride (R)evolution exhibition

Pride (R)evolution

  • Past Exhibition
Exhibition

This major exhibition takes a queer lens to the State Library’s vast collection and shares more than 20 untold stories that celebrate LGBTQ communities. 

Exhibition Information

to
Past Exhibition
Free
Exhibition Galleries

1 Shakespeare Place
Sydney NSW 2000
Australia
+61 2 9273 1414

View opening hours

Send for Nellie

Singer, performer, toast of the town.

Black and white photo of a group of people standing together posing.

William Yang and Sydney

A landmark 1977 exhibition was a snapshot of the city.

Black and white photograph of a woman standing in front of a banner at the protest

Coming Out in the 70s

Gay and lesbian life went public in the 70s. Speaking up and standing out, gay men and women took to the streets proudly demanding to be seen, heard and accepted.  

These chapters draw from stories and records in the Library’s collection to explore how the gay and lesbian rights movement emerged in NSW in the 1970s.  

From hook-ups to ACT-UP, Ballroom to ball sports, fag hags to radical drag, and coalition to intersectionality, we shine the spotlight on lives, loves, industries and identities that have historically been overlooked and undervalued. 

Curated from queer perspectives with input from community historians, activists and creatives, Pride (R)evolution centres LGBTQ experience. 

Experience an immersive display of photographs, posters, letters, scrapbooks, clothing, film and sound — as well as newly commissioned works from queer and trans writers and artists. 

A dynamic events program supports the exhibition, featuring local and international LGBTQ luminaries. Highlights during Sydney WorldPride include a star-studded celebration of the late Doris Fish. In May, acclaimed playwright Alana Valentine curates an evening of storytelling with music, exploring the legacy of crossdressing vaudevillian Nellie Small. Pride month in June will be celebrated with storytelling, screenings and performance associated with the exhibition.

Learn more about LGBTQI+ collections

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/postcard-1994-lesbian-calendar

Audio guides 

Screen shot of audio guides viewed on a mobile device

Audio guides are available at audio.sl.nsw.gov.au/pride-revolution

 VISIT AUDIO GUIDES

 

Also on show

Black and white portrait of two men. One man leans his head on the shoulder of the other man.
David Houghton & Lindsay Kemp, Glebe, William Yang, 1976 

As part of the Sydney WorldPride 2023 celebrations, see Sydneyphiles Reimagined — a contemporary interpretation of photographer William Yang’s breakthrough 1977 exhibition. View over 200 images, including vintage prints, and become immersed in the heady days of Yang’s early career and the aftermath of the show’s success.   

Also on show are rarely seen items from the collection documenting the stories and experiences of LGBTQ people. 

SeE Sydneyphiles Reimagined in Amaze

Meet the curators

Profile photo of curator Ronald Briggs

Ronald Briggs (he/him)

Ronald (Gamilaroi) is originally from Moree in central north-western NSW. He has over 30 years of experience working at the State Library of NSW and has also worked with the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. Most recently Ronald has been part of the Library’s curatorial team, specialising in First Nations people and histories, curating exhibitions, and bringing new items and voices into the Library’s collections.
Portrait of State Library curator Catherine Freyne

Catherine Freyne (She/Her)

Catherine is a historian and producer of multimedia history content. She has worked as Features Producer at ABC Radio National and Historian at the City of Sydney. For her work in radio, she has received two NSW Premier’s History Awards and the Oral History Australia Media Award. She is currently completing a PhD which combines history, sexuality studies and family memoir. She likes the poet Muriel Rukeyser’s notion that ‘the universe is made up of stories not atoms’ and has a particular penchant for the true ones. She loves birds, underdogs and primary sources.
Photographic portrait of a bald, white bearded man, wearing clear framed glasses and smiling directly at the camea.

Bruce Carter (he/him)

Bruce has worked with communities on history projects for over 20 years, for the last decade with researchers at the State Library of NSW. He became a founding member of Sydney’s Pride History Group in 2006 and was a co-curator on the Library’s ‘Coming Out in the 70s’ exhibition in 2020–21. His PhD (completed at UTS in 2019) looked at the concept of ‘memory activism’ and the potential in personal memory and storytelling to challenge social inequality and dominant historical narratives.
amn smiling with a flower jacket

Damien Webb (he/him)

Damien is a queer Palawa man (from southeast Tasmania) who has worked in state libraries for the last 10 years, including roles in Western Australia and New South Wales. He previously coordinated the State Library of Western Australia’s ‘Storylines Project’ and has worked with Aboriginal artists, traditional owners and researchers all over Australia.

Sponsors

Sydney World Pride 2023
Sydney World Pride logo